As population continues to grow, and countries invest in human capital there is a group left out. 15% of the population is living with one or more disabilities, and 66% of the adult population is unemployed. This puts strains on public social expenditure between 10-25% in OECD countries. I believe the “future of work” is a call-to-action to make work more accessible and increase productivity. There is a potential 3-7% GDP gain from the people unemployed and an estimated $8 Trillion economic buying power from including them in the economy. But some things can be done.

1. 7.5 Billion

2. 15% is left out…

3. 7.5B People
15% of population live with 1 or more disabilities = 1.1B
80% live with non-severe disabilities = 901M
65% are considered in labor force = 588M
66% of people with disabilities are unemployed = 388M
https://www.unicef.org/spanish/protection/World_report_on_disability_eng.pdf
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.1564.TO.ZS

4. 3-7% estimated gain of GDP
from ~66% unemployed
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---ifp_skills/documents/genericdocument/wcms_370772.pdf
https://www.unicef.org/spanish/protection/World_report_on_disability_eng.pdf

5. Organizations can gain a lot from
effectively including this group
High productivity
potential
Higher retention and
commitment
Low cost of assistive
environment
Insights for inclusive
product design
https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/resources/factsheet-on-persons-with-disabilities/disability-and-employment.html

6. $8Trillion Global
economic buying
power potential
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathankaufman/2019/08/30/mindset-matters-how-the-disability-narrative-is-making-its-impact-from-the-c-suite-to-the-campaign-trail/#165ffc5b2a7d

7. Challenges to include people with
disabilities in workforce
Education
Accessible public
transport
Employers’ perceptions
of productivity and costs
Attitudes and inclusive
environments
https://www.unicef.org/spanish/protection/World_report_on_disability_eng.pdf

8. The future of work is
disrupting low-skill
labor and benefiting
specialized and digital
skills, as well as soft
socio-emotional skills
This is the best time to include more
people with disabilities in the workforce,
by creating new opportunities from
current and future jobs.

9. How can
public and
private
organizations
tackle this?
Foster development of more accessible
assistive technology
Invest in early accessible education and re-
training programs to not loose talent that
has developed a limiting disability
Incentivize private organizations to recruit
people with disability by encouraging and
assist in process re-design, and cultural
change for inclusion.

10. Assistive
technology
can solve
challenges
In 2016, 163 members of the UN ratified their
obligation to ensure access to assistive
technology at an affordable cost and to foster
international cooperation
(Rights of Persons with Disabilities Articles 4, 20, 26 and 32).
https://www.who.int/phi/implementation/assistive_technology/Improving_access_to_assitive_technology.pdf?ua=1

11. Guarantee equal and accessible education by building inclusive
learning environments and providing needed assistance for
persons with disabilities
Promote inclusive economic growth with full and productive
employment by allowing persons with disabilities to fully access
job market
Emphasize social, economic and political inclusion of persons
with disabilities
Create accessible cities and water resources, affordable,
accessible and sustainable transport systems, provide universal
access to safe, inclusive, accessible and green public spaces
Emphasize disaggregated disability data collection and
monitoring of SDGs
Call-to-action
“Persons with disabilities”
or “disability” are
specifically mentioned
11x in 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development
Source: UN https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2016/02/sdg-page-001-1.jpg

12. Only 1 out of 10 people
have access to assistive
products
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/assistive-technology

13. Imagine the possibilities
of empowering this
unattended group

14. Disability need not be an obstacle
to success. I have had motor neurone
disease for practically all my adult life.
Yet it has not prevented me from
having a prominent career in
astrophysics and a happy family life.
- Stephen W. Hawking
WHO WORLD REPORT ON DISABILITY 2011
https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/70670/WHO_NMH_VIP_11.01_eng.pdf?sequence=1

15. Example of public investment in
employment of people with
disabilities

16. Description
• Samhall started in 1980 with the mission of creating jobs for people
with disabilities, and making this “untapped resource” competitive
in the labor market
• Owned by Swedish Government with an annual turnover of 7B SEK
• Their 23,000 employees, make Samhall Sweden's largest employer
and a world leader in creating developmental work for people with
disabilities
• The Swedish government makes sure to subsidize private
organizations that employ Samhall staff in different areas such as:
retail, operators, customer service, etc.
• Samhall reinvests in training and developing their employees to
excel in their responsibilities.
https://samhall.se/in-english/

17. Scaling
education and
development
• By focusing on assistive technology and investing in
organizations that understand the labor needs for
people with disability, countries can scale and reduce
the investment in education.
• They can prepare additional modular material to upskill
educators and streamline
• People will be more included with existing procedures,
while adjustments to make work more accessible takes
place in various industries
• Example: According to the US Bureau of Labor
Statistics, demand for Software developers will grow by
21% between 2018-20281. People with physical
disabilities could learn or continue to be employed in
this field with assistive technology from anywhere in
the world.
1https://www.bls.gov/ooh/Computer-and-Information-Technology/Software-developers.htm